By Sharon Zhang
This article was originally published by Truthout
Miller lied to ICE agents, saying, “Anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop you … is committing a felony.”
A federal officer has shot a second person in Minneapolis, just days after Trump immigration hawk Stephen Miller told ICE agents that they have “federal immunity” to act as they like — and that anyone obstructing them will face prosecution from the federal government.
In a Fox News segment shared by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on X, Miller falsely said that it was a “felony” to obstruct or even so much as touch an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer while they’re on duty. He repeated claims like Vice President JD Vance’s assertion that officers are “protected by absolute immunity” that have been roundly debunked by legal experts.
“Anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop you or tries to obstruct you is committing a felony. You have immunity to perform your duties, and no one — no city official, no state official, no illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic insurrectionist — can prevent you from fulfilling your legal obligations and duties,” Miller said.
“The Department of Justice has made clear that if officials cross that line into obstruction, into criminal conspiracy against the United States or against ICE officers, then they will face justice,” he went on.
Miller’s comments came two days before a federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis, on Wednesday.
Federal officials — who have lied relentlessly about the killing of Renee Nicole Good — claimed that the man was a Venezuelan immigrant in the U.S. illegally. DHS said the agent stopped him and was struggling to detain the man when two other individuals approached and tried to intervene. That’s when the officer fired a shot into the man’s leg, the department said, in purported self-defense. The man is recovering in the hospital, and the DHS officer is also in the hospital, according to the agency.
The shooting happened a week after an ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, shot and killed 37-year-old mother Renee Nicole Good, also in Minneapolis.
Good’s killing has spurred the Trump administration to try to empower ICE agents to be even more violent and repressive, with comments like Miller’s suggesting that ICE officers can act however they please and get the full backing of the federal government.
Legal experts have said that this is bogus. However, the Trump administration has carried out many illegal actions without consequence, and federal agents have already been acting like they have immunity in conducting their horrific crackdowns and disappearances across the country.
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